


la dolce vita

by sadlmfao



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Nightwing (Comics)
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Bruce Wayne is Bad at Feelings, Bruce Wayne is a Good Parent, Gen, I'll add more tags later, Protective Jason Todd, anyway, cz at least here he tries yk, he just doesnt wanna admit it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-15 19:01:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29194242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sadlmfao/pseuds/sadlmfao
Summary: Jason's learned the hard way that the key to survival is to take care of yourself first. And he's worked hard to never let himself get too close, too attached.Then Dick fucking Grayson comes in and ruins it all.Or: Jason finds out Dick's been de-aged, learns some hard truths about his older (younger?) brother, and realizes that survival is very different from living.
Relationships: Dick Grayson & Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson & Jason Todd, Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne
Comments: 15
Kudos: 191





	la dolce vita

\---

When Dick came to, there were lots of people surrounding him. He blinked off the black dots swirling in his vision before moving to sit up.

  
“Where… ‘m I?” He slurred. Everything felt familiar in a fuzzy sort of way, like he was remembering something but the details were blurry. Or maybe that was just his eyes.

  
His limbs felt heavy and eventually he fell back against the floor. “B,” he called out, right before blacking out once more.

\---

Jason grumbles under his breath as he searches through the Cave. He’s going to be late for fucking brunch with fucking Artemis, and if he was late one more time he was afraid she really would make good on her promise to make him chauffeur the next girls’ night. For a moment his mind wanders to watching sad romantic comedies on a couch full of women, and having to drive around said women to _watch the sunset, Jason_ , and _look at the stars, bitch_.

He shivered. Some fates are worse than death. (He would know.)

“Wallet, wallet, wallet.” He’s mumbling now with a newfound urgency, sorting through all the papers Tim has on the desk and making a mental note to teach the kid how to organize later. “Bills. Case file. Case file. Case file. Small child. Wayne Enterprises shit.”

Jason pauses. Wayne Enterprises shit… small… child? Slowly, mechanically, he follows the trail of papers he left back to the small child sitting at the desk. Blue eyes meet Lazarus green as Jason meets his gaze, and all thoughts of brunch are immediately put on hold.

“Who the fuck are you?” He asks, then curses himself. Tries again nicer. “Shi-oot. Sorry. Uhm, who… who are you, little guy?”

“M’ not little!” The kid yelps, an Eastern- European accent slurring his words just so. Jason blinks at him, mind stirring with recognition before the pieces click into place. “I’m Dick Grayson!” He announces, a beaming grin lighting up his little face. Jason doesn’t have much of a warning before Dick is in the air, flipping once, twice before landing in front of him.

“Who are you?” He chirps energetically, pointing at him. Now that he’s standing, Jason feels like something akin to a giant. Holy fuck, no one ever told him Dick was absolutely tiny as a kid.

  
“How old are you?” Jason asks instead. He wonders if he should be worried that he’s just accepted the fact that little Dick is here right now. Jason squints. The kid might be cute enough to get me out of brunch…

  
“Eleven.” Dick answers promptly, before shaking himself. “Wait, no- you need to answer question! My question!”

  
“Nah.”

  
“Yes!”

  
Jason scowls. “No, I don’t-”

  
“Jason.” Tim grins, coming out of fucking nowhere with a cup of coffee and manic smile on his face. Jason didn’t flinch away, but his jerky step back was something like it.

  
“What the fuck- Tim? Tim, did you know about this-”

  
“No cussing in front of him!” Tim swayed on his feet, eyes huge as he gestured to tiny Dick. “He’s a child, Jason!”

  
“I’m not a kid!” Dick whined again, before gasping and whipping around to Jason. “You just said fuck!”

  
Jason deduces about two points in the minutes since he’s known about this predicament. The first being that tiny Dick cussing was something he did not know he needed in his life, and the second being that he was definitely not going to be on time to brunch. He takes a quick breath, in and out, before deciding his plan of action.

  
He frowns at the kid, “No I didn’t.”

  
“What- yes you did! I hear you say it-”

  
“No I didn’t. I said-”

  
“Not the time to be doing this, Jason.” Tim snaps. A little more awareness has crept in, his eyes looking a little less dead with every passing second. It’s funny that Jason would be the one to bring him out, but he guesses it takes a dead man to know one.

  
“Jeez, fucker. What’s got you so tired?”

  
Tim steps beside him next to the BatComputer, wordlessly clacking at a few keys before gesturing to the case file. Jason scans it, taking in just the key phrases. He steps back when he’s done, brow furrowing a little in confusion.

  
“So… Dick’s been turned into a kid again, no idea how or why, except that he got hit with a stun gun on patrol two days ago?” Jason asks, looking at Dick consideringly. The kid had long since grown bored of them and had taken to flipping off different desk chairs haphazardly. Tim sighs.

  
“Yeah. The change was immediate, he has no memories of before, and he never. Runs. Out. Of. Energy.” Tim mutters the last part through gritted teeth. Jason is pretty sure his eye twitches too, something he notes with no end of amusement.

  
“Huh. Where’s Bruce and Damian?” He watches Dick take from flipping around to doing a headstand on the back of a chair. The weight is lopsided and it clatters to the ground, Dick catching himself on one hand with an excited shriek.

  
“In Mulan for a business trip.” He says, watching in resignation. Jason frowns.

  
“Damian? On a business trip?”

  
“I begged Bruce to take him. Brat was getting on my nerves.” Tim replies. Jason smirks.

  
“And look how well that turned out for you-”

  
“Shut the hell up.”

  
Jason changes courses. “Well there’s gotta be someone that’s better qualified for this shit. You can’t even take proper care of yourself, Timmers.”

  
To his surprise, Tim nods instead of shooting back. “Cass and Steph are on a girls weekend, and Alfie has been doing his best but he’s down with a cold.”

  
A pang of sympathy runs through him at the mental image. Tim having to take over the majority of Gotham’s cases on top of caring for a tiny Grayson and pseudo grandfather, on top of going to highschool and running WE. Jason winces. He knew he wasn’t on the best terms with Bruce as of right now, but anyone else still could’ve called. (God knows he would’ve come in a heartbeat.)

  
“Shit, Timbo.”

  
“I know.” He sighs. Then, in a moment of silence, Jason surprises the both of them.

  
“Go get some sleep. I’ll take him out for lunch.”

  
Tim turns to him, eyes wide and hopeful. “Are you sure?”

  
“Don’t fucking make me regret this.”

  
Tim doesn’t bother with a reply, already grabbing a blanket off the Batcouch and settling down. He’s gonna have a field day once he remembers Ace shitted there a few days ago.

  
“Fuck, thanks so much, Jason!” He calls out, already burrowing into a cocoon.

  
“Yeah yeah, you owe me one.” Jason mutters. He turns around, ready to go whip up some tasty ass food, only to realize Dick is nowhere to be seen. He grits his teeth.

  
“Big time.”


End file.
